The roster of experts on biosafety was established by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP) in
decision EM-I/3 and aims to "provide advice and other support, as appropriate and upon request, to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, to conduct risk assessment, make informed decisions, develop national human resources and promote institutional strengthening, associated with the transboundary movements of living modified organisms".
At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (COP-MOP), adopted
decision BS-I/4 on the roster of experts, including the
interim guidelines for its operation and the interim guidelines for the Pilot Phase of the
Voluntary Fund for the Roster, which was established by the COP in its
decision VI/29 to support eligible countries to pay for the use of experts selected from the roster.
The roster is accessible and searchable via the
Roster of Experts page on the Biosafety Clearing-House. The BCH also provides links and details on: the use and function of the roster; its history and development; the
procedures for nominating experts and updating expert information in the roster; guidelines for operation of the roster; information on the voluntary fund for the use of experts from the roster; statistical summaries of the roster including breakdown by region, areas of expertise, and gender; and the printable summaries of the full roster.
At its third meeting, the COP-MOP in its
decision BS-III/4 outlined a process aimed at strengthening the quality, effectiveness and level of use of the Roster of Biosafety Experts.
In
decision BS-IV/4, the COP-MOP adopted a number of measures for improving the quality, effectiveness and level of use of the roster of biosafety experts. These included a set of criteria and minimum requirements for experts to be nominated to the roster, updated guidelines for the roster, as well as a revised nomination form. Parties and other Governments were requested to make fresh nominations in accordance with the new criteria and minimum requirements and the Executive Secretary was requested to remove all existing records in the roster within three months and refill the roster with the new nominations. The Parties also decided to revitalize the pilot phase of the Voluntary Fund for the Roster.
